Month: August 2018

Recently, according to inside speculation, CBOE Global Markets plans to launch futures for Ether in the close future. Ethereum is by far the second largest cryptocurrency as noted by marketplace capitalization. It is known that CBOE is the exchange platform that first introduced Bitcoin futures. As it is, their new product, Ether futures, is in the process of development and it is speculated to be launched by the end of this year. After the launch of Bitcoin futures back in December, futures, which offer investors a way to bet on the future price of an asset, helped push BTC at all times highs. The US based BTC futures market, mainly composed of CBOE and CME have been more or less quiet since their launch.

Nonetheless, the launch of Ether futures on a US-regulated trade would mark an important step in Ethereum’s advancement as a cryptocurrency, thus making it possible to expand crypto trading and possibly the approval of an ETF. Chris Concannon, president of CBOE, has previously hinted at wanting to expand the company’s cryptocurrency products, stating that it is a natural development as the market continues to grow.

“We started down this road in the form of an ETF, […] A healthy market is a healthy underlying market, derivatives markets, and an ETF. That will take time.”

On the other side, at CME, CEO Terry Duffy has stated that he has no plans yet to develop Ether futures, wanting to focus on Bitcoin for the time being.

Danny Kim, head of Growth at SFOX, has commented on this new development and what it means for the market:

“Cboe’s providing will allow crypto traders to take each lengthy and quick positions in ether, and it’s some other step forward to a brand new widely wide-spread asset elegance. […] With this, I suppose the brand new investment opportunity will take crypto out of the bearish market and reverse to a brand new bull.”

As CBOE has founded its Bitcoin futures market by using the New-York exchange platform run by the Winklevoss twins as an archetype, it is speculated that this time the company will be basing its Ether futures on Gemini’s underlying market. Additionally, the inside source mentions that CBOE is waiting on the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to get acquainted and used with the new product before its launch. Back in June, a SEC director has alluded that the commission doesn’t believe Ethereum trading violates securities’ law, which would mean this could bring positive results for CBOE.

Yahoo! Finance becomes the latest platform to join the ranks of those who provide its users a way to sell and buy cryptocurrency. From now, Yahoo! Finance will also accommodate the crypto industry by facilitating the process of buying and selling of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin through the two leading exchange platforms Coinbase and Robinhood.

However, this new feature is accessible only for the 115 million Yahoo! users in the US at the moment. Though the news website receives significant traffic from countries like Canada, the UK, Hong Kong and India, no comments have been made whether the platform plans to extend its services globally. Despite that, Yahoo! remains hopeful that in the foreseeable future this new feature will be extended to other countries as well.

Yahoo! Finance has already included 112 cryptocurrencies to its new feature, also giving its users the possibility to check information on a few factors that affect cryptocurrencies such as market cap, percentage fluctuation, volume, circulating supply etc. Users also have the option of selecting the desired cryptocurrency – for now only four are available – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Still, Yahoo! Finance is not directly involved in the process, instead provides third-party brokers, such as TradeIt that uses an API system, which helps connect retail investors and software developers with any financial broker.

The process takes places through the two exchange platforms, Coinbase and Robinhood. Since the website offers the possibility of trading from one single place for a number of cryptocurrencies or alternatives, users are only required to be registered on either of the two exchange platforms. Once signed in and linked to Yahoo! Finance, users need to decide on the currency pair of their choice, i.e. BTC/USD and then proceed to click the Buy/Sell button. Afterwards, users are redirected to the exchange and can comfortably place their order.

With this development, Yahoo! Finance finally joins other major companies that provide customers with another method of trading or paying for products or services. Nonetheless, the financial section of the multimedia brand of Yahoo! network will keep on providing its customary news and data on finance as well as stock improvements and revisions and providing tools to manage personal finances.

Recently, it was announced in a press release that American blockchain platform Bittrex had partnered up with Rialto Trading, a next generation Alternative Trading System (ATS) with the common goal of creating a new exchange platform for digital securities.

According to the publication, Rialto Trading, which at the moment is operating a regulated ATS for fixed income products, is hoping through this venture to develop and broaden its ATS activities to digital securities. Currently, the project is awaiting approval from regulators of the market. Provided that they are granted authorization, this new exchange platform will merge Rialto’s extensive background in operating ATS with Bittrex’s proficiency in cryptocurrency, cybersecurity and blockchain technology. Thus resulting in developing an all- inclusive, cybersecure exchange platform for digital securities, which will fully support US dollar trading.

Both, Bittrex CEO Bill Shihara and Rialto CEO Shari Noonan, have expressed great delight at the prospect of working together on expanding this new platform, also pointing out the future benefits of this partnership:

“It takes a unique combination of advanced technology and financial expertise to build and launch an efficient, reliable and secure platform for trading digital securities, and we found the ideal partner in Rialto and its CEO Shari Noonan. […] We’re merging Bittrex’s technology, cybersecurity and blockchain expertise with Rialto’s deep knowledge of the securities industry. And, when you add that foundation with Rialto’s extensive background in financial services, including Shari’s experience at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, this new venture is well-positioned to further advance blockchain’s adoption by offering a comprehensive solution at the right time.”

– Bill Shihara, CEO of Bittrex

Shari Noonan has also recounted on the aftermath of this new venture:

“By working together, we’ll be able to expand our current client offerings to not only include digital securities, but also provide them access to a globally advanced and reliable trading platform.”

Additionally, the CEO of Bittrex hopes that through this venture the company will reach a similar value as Coinbase, a major American digital exchange currency platform, which is currently in the process of trying to acquire a broker-dealer license, an ATS license and a registered investment advisor certificate, all leading to it turning into a federally regulated broker-dealer.

Following the license authorization, the BTC based platform will continue its course by filing for approval by SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to offer digital securities. To facilitate the process, Coinbase plans to buy several companies such as Digital Wealth LLC, Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate.

In most recent news, the ruling on the Bitcoin ETF proposals filed by ProShares last September has finally seen light. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected their proposals, explaining in a lengthy argument their disapproval.

But first, what are ETFs essentially? Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investments funds traded on the stock exchanges much like stocks trade, but they track an index or a group of assets and are widely viewed as possessing the ability to bring an ample amount of institutional investors within the cryptocurrency market. ETFs are very attractive to many investors due to their likeness to stocks, low cost and tax efficiency.

Currently, ProShares holds about $30 billion in assets under management. Their rule proposals would have resulted in tracking the price of Bitcoin futures and on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and the ETF would have traded on the New York Stock Exchange Arca.

In a published order, the SEC argues that the rejection of the proposed rule change has nothing to do with ‘’ […] whether or not, Bitcoin or blockchain technology has utility or value as an innovation or an investment’’, but more so to do with the proposed rule not being consistent with certain requirements from the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice.

‘’Rather, the Commission is disapproving this proposed rule change because, as discussed below, the Exchange has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act Section 6, in particular the requirement that a national securities exchange’s rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices’’.

The SEC goes to indicate as well a critical point in their argument:

‘’Among other things, the Exchange has offered no record evidence to demonstrate that bitcoin futures markets are ‘markets of significant size.’ That failure is critical because, as explained below, the Exchange has failed to establish that other means to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices will be sufficient, and therefore surveillance-sharing with a regulated market of significant size related to bitcoin is necessary to satisfy the statutory requirement that the Exchange’s rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”

Following the ruling on Proshares’ ETF proposals, SEC has also rejected today two other ETF proposals, filed by GraniteShares and Direxion. SEC cited the same reasoning applies to these two. Likewise, this latest ruling follows the case of founders of Gemini Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, which SEC also has rejected for similar reasons. At present, the ruling on the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin ETF remains undecided, which has recently been deferred and will most likely get a ruling by the end of September.

Recently, SFOX, a cryptocurrency company that deals in institutional investment and high-volume trading, has released a press statement, revealing that they have recently closed their Series A funding round by raising $22.7 million in the process.

The usage of cryptocurrencies has been steadily increasing and the market has seen the growing need for inclusion of all institutions. Therefore, SFOX plans to launch an institutional cryptocurrency management platform that will help facilitate the inclusion of institutional investment into the cryptomarket. As stated in the report, several important investors have been noted to participate in the funding round such as SV Angel, Marko Britto, Khosla Ventures, DCG, Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk and most noteworthy being Social Capital and Trading Capital.

Future board member of SFOX and currently co-founder and partner, Arjun Sethi has commented in a recent statement on the present situation of the market and pointed out the tools necessary for future development that the new platform of SFOX will provide:

‘’We continue to observe sustained and increasing demand from institutions that want to include cryptocurrencies as part of a diverse portfolio but are reluctant to do so because of uncertainty and volatility. […] Institutions need a full service asset management platform that meets the unique needs of cryptocurrency. This is not being fulfilled by traditional tools and current platforms. We’re in a great position to provide these rails. This investment will allow us to pursue this evolution.’’

As a result of this new endeavor, SFOX has finally joined the ranks of major leading companies on the cryptocurrency market. Their common goal is focusing on creating solutions that will provide the essential and indispensable security for institutional investors that want to break into the cryptocurrency market. Amongst these ranks, is the digital exchange platform Bakkt, a newly formed subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

According to experts, the success of this new venture could potentially become one of the biggest achievements in the crypto community by facilitating the practice for all users and the widely spread inclusion of cryptocurrencies at institutional level. Contrarily, Goldman Sachs is still working on developing a reliable custody solution for big investors that would manage Bitcoin for its customers.